Frontier Army Warrior

Chapter 1322 Another Death in Battle

At this moment, a soldier ran in quickly, knelt on one knee, and bowed to report.

"Report, Your Highness, the pirates are attacking the city with great urgency. The East City requests reinforcements."

Zhao Jian suppressed his anger and pondered for a moment.

"Order the troops assembled in the west of the city to rush to the east of the city to resist the pirates."

The officer who delivered the order rushed out quickly.

Los Angeles is once again engulfed in fierce fighting.

Miao Changfeng led over a hundred cavalrymen and finally intercepted the princess's convoy in the northwest of Guangfeng County.

Dozens of carriages and more than a thousand horses were still dragging their feet as they moved forward.

Nearly ten days have passed, and they have only traveled less than 800 li (approximately 400 kilometers).

Seeing Miao Changfeng in such a disheveled state, Miao Yong knew that the peace talks had fallen through, and quickly helped Miao Changfeng into the carriage.

"Uncle, how did it get like this?"

Miao Changfeng took the tea that Miao Yong handed him and gulped it down.

"Alas, the pirates are wolves in sheep's clothing. They have no intention of negotiating at all. They just want to seize money and food from Taisho. It is hateful that bastard Lan Yu has put me in a desperate situation... I will never let him get away with this."

He started rambling on and on.

Miao Yong was stunned and at a loss for what to do.

After a while, Miao Changfeng caught his breath and waved his hand.

"Have the convoy turn around and return to Kyoto."

Miao Yong quickly got out of the car to convey the Prime Minister's order.

The princess's caravan arrived slowly, but the return journey was much smoother and faster, covering more than 150 miles in a single day.

It was more than twice as fast as when we arrived.

This shows how unwilling Her Highness the Princess was to marry a pirate.

In just three days, the long procession of carriages and horses returned to the outskirts of Kyoto.

In the past few days, Miao Changfeng had also sorted out his thoughts. After entering the city gates of Kyoto, he did not return to his residence but went straight to the imperial city.

Emperor Taisho Zhao Zheng had already received news of the failure of the peace talks, and Luocheng was once again engulfed in war.

Crown Prince Zhao Jian's urgent memorial was also placed on Zhao Zheng's desk.

At this moment, inside the Chengde Hall, several key ministers, including the Imperial Preceptor Lan Yu, stood before Zhao Zheng's desk.

Seeing Zhao Zheng's grim expression, none of the officials dared to speak, and they all lowered their heads, waiting for the storm to break.

"Lan Yu, do you want to explain this to me?"

Zhao Zheng tried to keep his voice down and tapped the desk with his finger.

Lan Yu bowed even lower.

"Your Majesty, there must be something fishy about this matter. I do not know the details and am unable to find out where the problem lies."

Grand Tutor An Zhengdao was worried about His Highness the Crown Prince, who was still fighting a tough battle in Luoxi.

"Your Majesty, since the peace talks have failed, we must first consider the safety of Luo City. This city is an important stronghold of the Great Zheng Dynasty and cannot be underestimated."

Zhao Zheng slammed his hand on the desk: "In your words, what I want is an explanation."

An Daozheng relied on his status to argue his case.

"Your Majesty, since the peace talks have failed, we should take remedial measures. As long as we can hold Luocheng, Taisho will still have the ability to restart the peace talks."

Zhao Zheng was furious: "What do I need for peace talks? Do you expect me to let a bunch of pirates slap the face of the Great Zheng Dynasty again?"

"Your Majesty, let's demonstrate the strength of our Great Zheng Dynasty and crush those pirates."

An Zhengdao bowed and knelt down.

Zhao Zheng glared at An Zhengdao, who was kneeling on the ground, his chest heaving violently.

After a while.

He changed the subject.

Has Miao Changfeng returned?

A eunuch stepped forward and bowed: "Your Majesty, Her Highness the Princess's entourage is already fifty li away from the capital."

"Bring Miao Changfeng to the palace; I want to hear his explanation."

Unable to vent his anger on An Zhengdao, Zhao Zheng had no choice but to shift his target.

At this moment, Miao Changfeng had arrived at the palace gate and ran right into a group of imperial guards who were there to arrest him.

After all, Miao Changfeng was still the prime minister of the Dazheng Dynasty, so the leader of the Imperial Guards wouldn't really take any measures against him. He simply had his soldiers surround Miao Changfeng and walk together towards the Chengde Hall.

Miao Changfeng strode to the front of Chengde Hall. As soon as he stepped over the high threshold, he knelt down and crawled forward on his knees.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Changfeng has fallen into the trap of the pirates. Of the eight hundred cavalry, less than a hundred remain. If it weren't for my bravery, Changfeng would never have seen Your Majesty again..."

His voice was hoarse and plaintive, like a cuckoo crying blood.

The people in the hall frowned as they looked at the white-haired and bearded prime minister, who was in a disheveled state, his face covered in snot and tears, prostrating himself before the emperor's desk.

Zhao Zheng had just stood up from the dragon throne, his eyes blazing with anger, but he couldn't lash out for the moment.

Lan Yu quickly stepped forward and shouted loudly.

"Miao Changfeng, please tell me in detail where exactly the problem occurred."

"Your Majesty, someone is colluding with outsiders to swindle our Great Zheng's funds and grain..."

Zhao Zheng rolled his eyes, temporarily suppressing his anger, and slowly sat down.

Miao Changfeng wiped away his snot and tears.

"Your Majesty, I followed the strategy and entered Fu'an City, which was occupied by pirates. Who knew that Tokugawa Iehira was a wolf in sheep's clothing? He doubled the conditions and blocked my eight hundred cavalrymen outside the city. He clearly has ulterior motives."

"and after?"

An Zhengdao asked eagerly.

"Your Majesty, I will uphold my principles to the death and never yield, but I never expected that those pirates would send assassins that very night..."

Everyone stared wide-eyed at Miao Changfeng in astonishment.

They brought generous gifts to negotiate peace, so why would the pirates treat the Taisho peace delegation like this?

"Thanks to the guards who risked their lives to protect me, I was able to escape Fu'an City. And thankfully, I had a backup plan, allowing Her Highness the Princess to proceed slowly, so she did not fall into the wolf's den."

"After I escaped, I carefully considered that Tokugawa Iehira's agreement to peace talks was a pretense; his real intention was to extort money and supplies from us, and behind the scenes, he was preparing an army to take Rakusei Castle in one fell swoop."

Lan Yu sneered and asked, "If Tokugawa Iehira really wanted to extort money and supplies from us and set a trap in Fuan City, how could you possibly escape?"

Miao Changfeng looked up at Zhao Zheng with tearful eyes and a pitiful expression.

"Does Your Majesty still remember Mu Chuan, who led five hundred cavalrymen and slew thousands of pirates in battle?"

Zhao Zheng frowned and thought hard, but couldn't recall the person for the time being.

Minister of War Shen Yu remembered it clearly and quickly stepped forward to report.

"Your Majesty, this man, Mu Chuan, once trained troops for our Taisho. At that time, he led five hundred cavalrymen he had trained out of Luoxi City and fought all the way to Guangfeng County. After killing thousands of pirates, he was surrounded by nearly ten thousand pirates and eventually died in battle."

Zhao Zheng finally remembered.

"Hmm, Miao Changfeng, didn't you say this person had already died in battle?"

"Your Majesty, just a few days ago, I learned that Mu Chuan escaped death from the encirclement of nearly ten thousand pirates and ended up in the Jianghu. That's why I recruited him to train war cavalry for my Great Zheng."

Lan Yu waved his hand: "Stop interrupting, hurry up and tell me how you escaped from Fu'an Prefecture, where the pirates gathered."

Miao Changfeng ignored Lan Yu's question and just looked at Zhao Zheng.

"Your Majesty, it was Mu Chuan's eight hundred cavalrymen who played a crucial role in holding off thousands of pirates, allowing me to safely cross the Fengze River. But he and his two brothers..."

Lan Yu chuckled coldly, "Did you die in battle again?"

Miao Changfeng turned his head and glared at Lan Yu with hatred.

"Your Majesty, I suspect that someone in the court is colluding with the pirates and plotting to trap our Great Zheng in a dangerous situation."